From Afar
by klool
Summary: "Holy moustache?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Holy moustache," I confirmed. "So thank your moustache that I'm saying okay." He raised the other eyebrow. "I'm gonna be your friend," I smiled. "And once Mikan Sakura becomes a friend, she stays a friend."
1. The Night Before School

**Disclaimer: You all know the drill- Gakuen Alice is NOT mine...blah blah blah... but this story IS mine!**

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><p>"I think I'm in love."<p>

Anna gave a small laugh as she finished sprinkling sugar powder on the last batch of fruit pastries.

"Mikan, you say that all the time," she giggled, dusting her hands free of the fine powder.

I popped the last piece of the scrumptious treat in my mouth, savoring the sweet flavor as much as I could.

"Only with your sweets, my love," I sighed in content.

"Then would you like another?" she offered, waving her hand over a colorful assortment of fruit filled pastries placed all over her kitchen table which was rather large.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I replied as I hopped off my stool by the cluttered counter. "As much as I love your creations, I think you'll need every heavenly piece of them tomorrow."

She made a face and grabbed a couple of the bowls on the kitchen counters and moved them to the sink. I smirked at her dismay and began to help her clean up.

"Worried?" I inquired as I twisted the sink on, making hot water pour out of the faucet instantaneously.

"Of course," Anna snorted. "Wouldn't you? And wear these."

I caught the pair of pink gloves she threw with ease, wiggling my hands into them. They were a bit tight on my hands, but I blamed Anna's hands for being so extraordinarily small.

"Ah, my eyes!" I cried out dramatically as I lifted my gloved hands up in front of me. "The overwhelming pink is hurting my eyes!"

It wasn't true, of course, but there _was_ a lot of pink in the kitchen. Despite the warm yellow walls, white tiled floors, and honey-brown counters, most of the kitchen utensils were or held a bit of pink on them.

Anna snorted indignantly, throwing a bit of flour she had been putting away at my shoulder.

"If pink hurts your eyes so much," she huffed. "How do you stand to see me everyday?"

Anna's hair was a bright shade of bubblegum pink, a color that fit her as unique as it was. She had experimented with different shades of colors for her hair before settling on the particular shade of pink. Despite the numerous dyes, her long wavy hair remained perfectly silky and healthy, an apparent effect of Nonoko's special hair formulas. Nonoko, Anna's "twin" was a chemist extraordinaire, and she created pretty much everything involving chemistry for everyone. She herself had dyed her long straight hair a soft sky blue under _Anna's_ influence. A _chemist_ dyed her hair under a _cook's_ influence. Did anyone see the irony there?

"Simple," I snickered. "Nonoko's blue hair keeps it balanced."

Anna threw another handful of flour at me, but I quickly stepped away and avoided a fatal hit.

"And I don't see you everyday," I added with a laugh, splashing some water at her in retaliation. I remembered, however, a bit later, that the water was _hot_.

"Holy moustache!" I yelped.

"Mikan!" Anna exclaimed, rushing to my side. "Are you okay?"

"Oh my moustache, I am fine," I muttered.

Anna rolled her eyes and tugged my arms to the sink, turning the faucet to cold and pushing my hands under the water.

"You are such an idiot," Anna scolded.

"Idiot?" I gasped. "Did our saintly Anna just... _insult_ someone?"

Anna smacked my arm and started to giggle. Soon I joined and our giggles erupted into a full-out laughter. We finished cleaning up the kitchen in sporadical bursts of sniggers, but when we turned back to the perfected pastries sitting on the the desert stands, Anna's jovial mood fell back to one of concern.

"Is ten dozen too much?" she asked out loud.

"Anna-dear, your sweets are never too much," I sang. I took in a deep breath of the sweet fruity smell in the air and sighed. "Yep, never too much."

Anna frowned, worry still etched in her eyes. "But all the other cooks are preparing something special-"

"-different kinds of refreshments decided by a class vote-"

"-and since there are barely two hundred students in our school-"

"-plus the staff and the exchange students-"

"-isn't ten dozen too-"

"-little?" I finished.

"Mikan!" Anna huffed. "I'm seriously trying to think here!"

I patted my friend sympathetically. "And I'm trying to help you. Just bring it to school and all will go well." I ruffled her hair and gave her a wink. "Besides, if there are any leftovers, I think a certain group of boys will be willing to finish it for you."

Anna blushed lightly before lifting her chin crossly.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

I raised an eyebrow.

Her blush deepened.

"Anna." I began, my other eyebrow rising.

"Stop." She put up a palm to my face.

"What?" I asked, surprised.

"I know that tone," she frowned.

"What tone?" I grinned.

She blushed even more and snatched a tray of pastries off the table.

"You know what? I'm gonna drop this conversation." She marched the tray to the big refridgerator in the corner. It was huge and metallic, a bit out of place in the cozy kitchen, but it was the special storing fridge, one of the many modern upgrades Anna had installed within her kitchen for her cooking.

"What conversation?" I pressed, my grin widening. I grabbed one of the trays as well, following after her.

She made no comment at all despite my persistent inquiries and continued to do so until she was done with putting the finished pastries away. After the last tray was in, she turned around quickly with a huge smile plastered to her face.

"Oh my, Mikan! It's already 8:37! It's so late! Your mother will be worried," she gushed as she pushed me out the kitchen.

"Anna? Wait a minute-" We were in the living room now.

"And tomorrow's the first day of school too! Summer vacation must have messed with your sleeping habits, right?"

We were at the front door now.

"I was just kidding-"

She pushed me out the door, my slippers waiting for me outside. How did she do that?

"Good night sweetheart, and make sure to call me!"

She thrust my bag and my sweater in my arms before she gave me a little wave and shut the front door. I soon found myself standing outside in the dark, shivering slightly in front of the wooden door of a large wooden cottage. I sighed a bit before sticking my feet in my slipped and shuffling down the front yard.

Anna could be so stubborn sometimes.

xXx

"Yello?" I answered the phone that had began ringing just as I had plugged in the hairdryer. I had quickly grabbed a towel and began ruffling my long chocolate-brown hair with it as I had grabbed the phone.

"Mikan!"

"Hey Anna," I answered slowly. She sounded a bit panicked. "You okay?"

"Nonoko is coming back tomorrow!" Anna exclaimed.

"What? I thought she was coming back a week after school started!" I exclaimed back, equally enthusiastic.

"Nope. Apparently, Chemistry Camp finished today. The brochure was printed wrong."

"Oh my moustache!"

"I know, right? But Nonoko wanted to surprise us so act surprised tomorrow, kay?" Anna squealed before she let out a muffled yell. With a breath of annoyance, she quickly chided, "Mom's a bit angry. She's the one who found out over a conversation with Nonoko's parents, and I snatched the phone away from her. Gotta' go now. Night and sweet dreams!"

The phone clicked dead before I could reply. I looked incredously at the phone reciever before shaking my head. Suddenly tired, I quickly brushed through my hair and braided it tightly, too tired to dry it electronically or manually. Soon, I was snuggled between the soft orange covers of my bed and dozing off.

A slow slideshow of Anna's pastries ran through my mind right before my mind shut down completely, something wet dribbling down my chin.

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><p><strong>Sooo?<strong>

**I know, completely vague, not much information or storyline passing through here. Keyword: _EXCHANGE STUDENTS_. ...Still, not much information, I know. But hey, it's funny.**

**...it is _funny_, right?**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Reviews! Yea! -insert rockstar handsigns here-**

**Yeah!**


	2. The Welcome

**Disclaimer: You all know the drill- Gakuen Alice is NOT mine...blah blah blah... but this story IS mine!**

**Oh, and thank you Kirei Aoi for the FIRST review! It's really a great feeling to get a review :)**

**So here goes :)**

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><p>The day could <em>not<em> have started worse.

I woke up to the most annoying sound in the world: my alarm clock. And it is _not_ a normal alarm clock. It is a banshee, literally. Shaped like a screaming cavewoman with spiky hair, it carried a large rock with the clock etched within. The screams it makes... Oh moustache, why did I buy this clock?

I had a massive headache by the time I dragged myself off my bed. Oh, did I mention that I had drooled last night?

Drooled. Drooled!

I am a _very_ hygenic person.

So I washed my face, with a few extra scrubs, of course. When I was done, I had opened my closet to look for my uniform only to discover that it wasn't there.

"Mom?" I hollered as I dashed out my room and to the living room in hopes of seeing my mother there.

She stood by the oven, cooking some scrambled eggs nonchalantly. Her straight chocolate-brown hair, a tone lighter than my own, was tied up in a loose ponytail. She glanced at me with wrinkle-free brown eyes. Despite being a bit shorter than me, she had a straight posture, giving off the feeling that she was actually taller. She was a bit young to be a mother of a fifteen-year-old teenage daughter, being only thirty-three. She'd had me at the tender age of eighteen. Long story short, Mom got knocked up by a college sweetheart who had gotten run over by a car when he attempted an escapade from his responsibilities. She decided to keep me, told her parents right after she turned eighteen, and got a job as an author after graduation. It was the best choice, she tells me, because she could work at home and take care of me at the same time. Despite having zero experience in writing, she wrote a couple of romance novels that grew popular. Best-sellers and whatnot, they brought quite a bit of dough back home. She was growing busier everday, and while she had kept to regular daytime absences when I was younger, she now went on overnight expeditions since I was now a "mature" adult. Today, however, was the first day of school, so she had promised me a nice warm breakfast. She grabbed a green plate with a slender arm and piled the steamy eggs on it.

"Mikan, don't yell," she reprimanded as she placed the scrambled eggs on the table. Next to them were bacon, I noted. And french toast. Yum.

"Mhm, sorry," I carelessly waved as I inhaled the warms breakfast happily. I quickly took a seat and murmured a short grace before grabbing a fork.

"Well?" she asked after she sat down and did her own grace. She took a small piece of the bacon and popped it in her mouth.

As soon as I saw the bacon disappear, I dug into my own breakfast.

"Werll whart?" I asked, my mouth chewing as quickly as it could. She gave me a look, and I quickly swallowed and cleared my throat before asking again, "Well what?"

She stopped squirting ketchup on the side of her eggs and shrugged. "You tell me. Mikan, you called me first when you ran here."

"Oh," I murmured, chewing some french toast and swallowing it. "I was gonna ask about my uniform. It's not in my closet." I was half done already.

"I wouldn't know sweetie," Mom replied, her own fork spearing her a piece of egg. "I gave you the box after it got delivered, and I haven't touched it since."

Realization hit me, and in a hurry, I gulped down the last of my food and drowned the cup of orange juice by my plate.

"I remember where it is now," I rushed, slipping out of my seat. "Thanks for the food!"

"Sweetie!" She waved her fork still holding a ketchup-covered scrambled egg. "I haven't even taken a second bite out of my breakfast! I thought today's breakfast would be a quality mother-daughter time!"

"Sorry," I replied. "Gotta help Anna today with the welcome party!"

I entered my room and kneeled under the bed, tugging at the box I had neglected over the past week after its delivery. Peeling the tape off, I opened the box and shook out the new uniforms. There were ten pairs in there, two P.E. sweats for the summer, two P.E. sweats for the winter, two standard uniforms for the spring, two standard uniforms for the winter, and the two standard uniforms for the fall. Excluding the P.E. sweats, each pair of uniforms had a white blouse and red plaid pair of pants. It was actually a well-known fact that girls could wear either pants or skirts at our school, but most girls wore skirts. In fact, I was the only female in the whole school who wore pants. I grabbed the standard fall set and slipped into the light white blouse easily. The plaid shorts were a bit large, but I easily solved it with a black belt which was soon covered by a soft black sweater. I tugged out the collars from the sweater's v-neck and grabbed the thin red ribbon to tie.

"Mikan!" Mom called. "Anna's here to pick you up!"

Biting my lip, I stuffed the ribbon in my pocket and slipped on the long white knee high socks. I could do that later.

I grabbed my knapsack and skidded out the door soon.

"Mom, I'm going now!" I called out as I opened the front door and greeted the cool autumn morning.

"Have fun Mikan," Mom smiled as she emerged from the hallways in a sharp suit, her hair perfectly curled and her make-up flawlessly shining. I swear, I just saw her sitting at the table in sweats, barely starting her breakfast, and suddenly she's dolled up much, much more than me? I shook my head. It was one of the mysteries of my mother, but I had no time to find out. I quickly slipped into the leather shoes waiting for me at the door.

"Work hard," I replied with a smile and blew a kiss before I hopped down the porch and slipped inside the passenger seat of the pink van waiting on the sidewalk. I'm not going to explain the pink van. It was pink and that was final.

"A bit frazzled, are we?" Anna grinned as she eyed me.

I shrugged and threw my bag behind me. She was looking perfectly groomed as per usual, her pink hair cascading down her chest in gentle waves. Her own uniform was immaculate and straight, her skirt smooth as if ironed, which it probably had been.

"So are those braids a part of your morning rush?" she asked, pointing out my hair. I had forgotten about them in the morning, and the neat braids from last night were now frizzy and messy.

"No," I groaned as I undid the braids. "I should just cut these things off again! It's only been a couple months and they're past my shoulders already!"

Anna gasped as she shifted the van stick and began to drive. "Mikan, you can't! You already gave me a heart attack by cutting it to your chin last time. Do you want me to die of shock?"

I laughed lightly as I bunched the hair up into a loose bun. "I won't, but I think Nonoko put some kind of growth formula in the shampoos she gave me after that. My hair's growing too fast."

"That might be possible," Anna mused. "So... do you think the city kids will be nice?"

I rolled my eyes. We had had this conversation numerous times. We lived in the mountains, seperated from a lot of the cities. To get to the nearest city, one would have to take a two hour bus to the valleys and then take a three hour long train ride. The city wasn't an actual city itself, but it held much more than what our small town offered. In fact, the largest building in town was the one and only school in our town, Alice Academy. It held classes for all grades, starting with daycare to college. On the last day of school, the principal had announced an exchange program between our school and its sister school in Tokyo.

Tokyo.

You could only get there by riding a plane for four hours! Everybody had been excited and had planned a welcome party the first day of school. Our school, being as lax as it was, allowed parties with the right reasons, and our welcome party was easily accepted and was to be held in the main stadium. Anna and a couple of other students from the advanced cooking program had been assigned treats to make. Among the drinks, cookies, sandwiches, pastries, and etcetera, Anna had been chosen for her famous fruit delights. Excited by the news of new students and Anna's selection, Nonoko, Anna, and I had discussed the new students avidly. While all the excitement and debate of the city kids were fun the first couple of weeks, it seemed a bit silly now. Kids were kids and we didn't have to be so nervous.

"They're just gonna be new kids, only that there'll be a lot more of them than the norm. Some will be mean, others will be nice. Now don't worry about that and drive," I commanded her.

"Easy for you to say," Anna grumbled. "You're so easygoing with stuff like these."

"Because they aren't really important," I sang to her teasingly as I rolled down the window.

Anna smiled nervously. "But don't you feel like you need to... I don't know, impress them? I mean, our town is so small."

"Yeah, cause we aren't awesome," I snorted, enjoying the incoming wind. "If they can't see our awesomeness, that means they aren't awesome at all."

Anna laughed, her shoulders relaxing considerably. "You're right. Our awesomness beats all others."

"Mhm," I smiled back.

We fell into a comfortable silence, and soon enough, we were at the school gate. It was tall and black, looming an incredible height, but it opened automatically as Anna's van neared. Anna greeted the school guard cheerfully and held a short conversation before handing him a paper bag. She soon said waved goodbye and started up the gravel road towards the school. Towering trees covered either side of the road, curving into an elegant archway above. The tall gothic main building soon came into view, but Anna drove around it to the back. As we passed the tall brick building, I gave Anna a curious look.

"So... what was that?"

"It's just a chocolate cake for his kid," Anna explained. "He asked me for some the other day."

"Schmoozer much?" I teased playfully.

She grinned widely, replying, "It's the way of the society honey. Besides, he lets me in the school all the time without asking me why. He recognizes my car right away already, and I've been driving for what, three months?"

"of course," I nodded as if thinking thoughtfully. "Because your pink van is _so_ hard to miss."

She snorted as she shifted the car to a halt. We were in front of a large white stadium. A couple of students who had been in front of the building had noticed us and came running to just as we got off.

"Hi Mikan, Anna!" a boy waved.

"Do you guys need any help?" a couple of other guys asked as they caught up to Yuu.

"Yep," I nodded, opening the van trunk. "We got some delicate delights right here, ten trays full, and we're gonna need a couple of you to carry them inside."

The boys shuffled into a line quickly in order to grab a tray, shyly greeting Anna as they passed her and greeting me with joking grins.

_Boys_, I thought as I snickered at their change in manners. A lot of the boys at school were crushing on Anna. It was not wonder, since she was so pretty and nice with a very petite body than most of the girls at school as well. She was almost a complete head shorter than me, in fact. She used to be as tall as most children, but her growth hormones never kicked in. She still had a great figure though.

All trays except for two were passed out and the boys were soon gone, a bit reluctantly with lingering glances on Anna.

"I'm gonna go park my car in the parking lot," Anna sighed as she climbed back in har van. As funny as I thought the boys were around my best friend, Anna herself found all the attention burdening. Besides, she already had a crush.

I patted her back sympathetically and after balancing the last two trays on my arms, I shut the van close with my knees.

"See you later," Anna called as she drove away, her actrociously pink van crunching along the gravel road.

"And there she goes," a familiar voice quipped and a tan hand grabbed one of my trays.

With a grin spreading across my face, I slowly turned. "Well, well, who is this? Isn't it a week too early Miss Ogasawara?"

"As if I can ever be too early for you Miss Sakura," the figure smiled.

I gave in and jumped on Nonoko to give her as tight a hug I could give with one arm, exclaiming, "Welcome back!"

"Good to be back," she laughed, squeezing me back.

When we seperated, I stepped back and gave her a look-over. Her long hair was still as blue and straight as ever, standing out brightly against the black blazer of her uniform. Her blue eyes twinkled as brightly, a smile wide on her face. The only difference I noted was the serious tan on her skin. Whilst she had been a pearly white just like Anna before the summer, she had tanned to a light mocha tone. Amazingly, it still fit her complexion perfectly, if not better.

"You are...tan," I paused before I slowly smiled. "And we have yet another trait to tell the twins apart!"

She giggled and linked arms with me, tugging me inside the stadium.

"I know," she smiled. "Now tell me everything that happened over the summer so I can catch up."

xXx

The inside of the stadium was incredible. There was a large banner at the very front reading "Welcome to Alice Academy!" in a very fancy pattern. Lacy strings of colorful streamers hung loosely on the ceilings. The windows had been opened, the fresh autumn breeze regulating the temperature regularly. A soft classical music played from the speakers on the walls while shining balloons floated mysteriously in mid air, niether floating up or down. On the side of the polished wooden floor were tables covered in white cloth where colorful snacks and refreshments of all sizes were stacked in a pretty pattern.

"Holy moustache," I muttered as I placed my tray absentmindedly on an empty section of the desert table.

"I know, right?" Nonoko exclaimed. "It's so pretty!"

"Yeah, the decoration committee really went over the top for a simple welcome party."

I gave a friendly hug to the moss-brown haired boy who had joined out conversation.

"Hey Yuu," I grinned.

"Hey President," Nonoko greeted as well.

"Hey Mikan, Nonoko," he smiled back. Turning to the table, he pushed his glasses up as he inspected one of Anna's fruit pastries. "Another Umenomiya masterpiece?"

Nonoko and I shared a look and sniggered.

"And of course you'd be able to tell," I commented.

Yuu coughed a bit and blushed.

"No words needed, Prez," Nonoko shook her head as she patted Yuu's shoulder, making his blush deepen. "We all Anna is too irresistable to possible resist."

"Nonoko!" an excited yell came from behind us.

"And speak of the devil," Nonoko giggled.

Anna literally jumped on Nonoko, squealing in delight.

That is, until she noticed a certain blushing boy beside us.

"H-hey Yuu," Anna stuttered, a blush enveloping her own cheeks.

I coughed lightly and tugged at Nonoko, leading her away from the two blushing couple. Well, soon-to-be couple, I hoped.

Many students greeted us as we made our way around the stadium, many giving friendly hugs and sharing summer stories.

"You know, all of them seem to be nervous about the new students," Nonoko stated.

"Mhm. Anna was too, you know," I replied. "But if they're half as nice as our students, I think they'll be fine."

_"Attention all AA students at the main stadium, the exchange students have arrived!"_ a voice blasted through the speakers, the music halting immediately. A murmur of excitement passed through the students.

_"Everyone, please gather near the entrance and shout 'Welcome to Alice Academy' as soon as the poppers at the front have popped their poppers!"_

Many students giggled nervously, and began to gather at the front. I nudged Nonoko, pointing out Anna who was being led by the _hand_ by no one other than our friendly student council president, Yuu Tobita. She giggled and we ourselves made it to the front of the crowd. Silent but excited, everyone held their breaths as we waited for the expected new students.

When the doors opened, chaos ensued as the poppers popped and all the students, kindergarten to high school yelled at the top of their lungs, "**WELCOME TO ALICE ACADEMY!"**

Cheers filled the stadium, only to be silenced instantly by one voice.

One deep and alluring voice whispered, yet reached every ear in the room, stilling every being.

A very, _very_ irritated voice asked a single question.

_"What the hell?"_

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><p><strong>And that's the end of this chapter everybody!<strong>

**Long, I know. But it's actually just a whole lot of dialogue. And hopefully, you got a bit more information here.**

**And I know I'm not describing the setting very well. I'm horrible at it. Horrible excuse, I know, but it's actually because in Mikan's point of view, she knew these sights all her life. She doesn't really notice them, you see. I'll describe a whole lot more settings in Natsume's point of view.**

**Will it be the next chapter?**

**I don't know. So maybe you should stick around and find out ;)**

**Read and Review!**


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